CORRECTED-U.S. Navy: Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf

(Corrects date of Cole attack in para 7, fixes typo in
paragraph 10)

By Warda Al-Jawahiry

MANAMA Feb 12 Iran has built up its naval
forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in
suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking
the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the
region said on Sunday.

Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt
shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its
oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear
programme comes under attack.

"They have increased the number of submarines ... they
increased the number of fast attack craft," Vice Admiral Mark
Fox told reporters. "Some of the small boats have been outfitted
with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive
device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory."

"We have watched with interest their development of long
range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic
missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear
programme," Fox, who heads the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said at a
briefing on the fleet's base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Military experts say the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet patrolling
the Gulf - which always has at least one giant supercarrier
accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and
destroyers - is overwhelmingly more powerful than Iran's navy.

But ever since al Qaeda suicide bombers in a small boat
killed 17 sailors on board the destroyer U.S.S. Cole in a port
in Yemen in 2000, Washington has been wary of the vulnerability
of its huge battleships to bomb attacks by small enemy craft.

Asked whether the U.S. Navy was prepared for an attack or
other trouble in the Gulf, Fox said: "We are very vigilant, we
have built a wide range of options to give the president and we
are ready... What if it happened tonight? We are ready today."

Iranian officials have threatened to block the Strait of
Hormuz, the outlet to the Gulf through which nearly all of the
Middle East's oil sails.

Asked if he took Iran's threats seriously, Fox said: "Could
they make life extremely difficult for us? Yes they could. If we
did nothing and they were able to operate without being
inhibited, yeah they could close it, but I can't see that we
would ever be in that position."

He added that diplomacy should be given priority in
resolving the tension.

"So when you hear discussion about all this overheated
rhetoric from Iran we really believe that the best way to handle
this is with diplomacy... I am absolutely convinced that is the
way to go. It is our job to be prepared. We are vigilant."

Contacts between the U.S. Navy and Iranian craft in the Gulf
region were routine, Fox said, referring to cases where his
sailors helped Iranian ships that were in distress or threatened
by pirates.

In addition to commanding the Fifth Fleet, Fox is also the
commander of a multinational naval task force charged with
ensuring Gulf shipping routes stay open. Although most of its
firepower is American, the task force also includes other
Western countries and the Gulf Arab states.

The European Union slapped an embargo on Iranian oil last
month, which is due to kick in completely by July 1. The United
States and EU have both imposed new sanctions on Iran's central
bank which make it difficult for countries to pay Tehran for oil
and for Iran to pay for the goods it imports.
(Editing by Firouz Sedarat and Peter Graff)

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